An Endless Tale
by Kaleyanne
Summary: Adventure, 02, Savers, TAMERS drabble collection. Updated Sep. 6: It's the happiest day of Rumiko Makino's life: Ruki's first slumber party! Only not.
1. 02: Now What?

"Shouldn't we… I dunno… help the kids?" Tai ventured.

Sora shot him down. "Our Digimon can't go Ultimate anymore."

"Except Lillymon," Izzy added, a little too thoughtfully.

"Shame," Matt said. "I'm kinda sorry I won't get to see a full-on battle between Angewomon and LadyDevimon."

"At least you go to see it, period," Joe pointed out. "I missed it both times."

"Well, I wasn't able to fully appreciate it the first time," Izzy consoled.

Sora blinked. "You know, I expect that from Tai…"

"Hey!"

"…But not you three."

"Why not?" Joe asked. "We're teenage guys."

"Yeah, you're always griping about how weak men are when faced with the awesome power of the short skirt," her boyfriend added.

Tai waved his hands. "The kids? Shouldn't we help them?"

"How?" Matt asked. "No Ultimates. No Digimon period, actually."

Tai faltered. "Well… we need to do SOMETHING!"

Joe waved his cell phone. "Hey, I did do something! Kido's Taxi Service has left for the battle grounds, and I'm gonna end up paying the gas money."

Sora rolled her eyes. "Oh, the sacrifices we make for the world! You hit the speed dial and begged your big brother to play chauffeur with my dad's car."

"Hey, that's right!" Joe's eyes lit up. "It IS your dad's car! You should pay half the gas money!"

"Not on your life!"

"Soraaaaa…"

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "A full-on 'I'm-TK-See-My-Crest-of-Hope' pout. I'm impressed."

"Nah, that's standard 'I'm-the-baby-brother-give-me-my-way' pouting," Matt corrected. "But still, good technique. I kinda want to pay the gas money now."

"About Kari and the others…" Tai began again.

"Oh, let them do their fancy DNA and Digi-Armor Energize junk," Sora said dismissively, capitalizing on the excuse to escape Joe's baby brother pouting.

Matt nodded. "Screw those guys, let's go home."


	2. 02: Dreams and Nightmares

Devimon attacking, Angemon dying, Yamato and Hikari and Sora falling forever way… Takeru awoke in a cold sweat, heart pounding, and looked around. Relief flooded him; Patamon was right next to him and he was twelve, not eight. There had been no threats in a year, and the air coming from the window was wintry and refreshing. Takeru massaged his forehead. He wondered vaguely if it was healthy for nightmares to be so persistent, decided he'd see if the Kidos had any books on the subject, and then frowned, and brought his hand down over his heart.

Almost like a sixth sense, the feeling of something peering into his heart pricked at him gently. The feeling that he wasn't the only one reeling from those images was clear and unmistakable, and a gentle knock at the front door several minutes later confirmed that his dreams had leaked from his heart into Iori's, and Iori was concerned.

Takeru briefly considered putting on his best smile and telling the ten year old to go back to bed, lest his family find him gone, but as he approached the door, decided not to. Iori was as stubborn and had grown more forward in the year since BelialVamdemon's defeat. Shooing him away, Takeru had learned, would just scare him worse.

Daisuke and Ken and Miyako and Hikari had neglected to mention, when they spoke of how wonderful it was to feel someone else's heartbeat alongside your own, the fact that they felt each other's nightmares, as well. Or maybe it was just Takeru and Iori, or maybe Ken and Hikari's nightmares were too private for Daisuke and Miyako to feel comfortable mentioning. Who knows?

Who cares? Except Iori, and Takeru's heartbeat hadn't quite slowed yet. Takeru opened the door, and welcomed him inside.


	3. Adventure: Last Hope

They all did it.

Taichi spent hours at the museum, staring at dinosaur skeletons. Sora skipped flower arrangement lessons to feed the birds in the park. Mimi whined until her parents bought a flower box and seeds for their balcony and her room sported a tiny, potted cactus. Hikari fed every stray cat she could find, and lavished attention on her pet, Miko. Koushirou asked his parents to stop buying bug spray, insisting they trap insects under a cup and set them free outside. Yamato would hike in the country, seeing if he could spot a wolf. Even Jou sometimes took a day off at the beach, watching the seals. It just made them lonelier, but they all did it, anyway.

But Takeru perused every zoology book he could and found nothing. Patamon didn't quite match any Earth creature. Poyomon was a jellyfish and Angemon was an angel, but the former was a little creepy (Taichi said jellyfish didn't have brains and Jou said they could sting you really bad) and the latter wasn't technically real. Patamon's ears were like bats, but bats reminded him of Vamdemon, too.

The closest he could get was a hamster, but hamsters didn't live very long. And Takeru had already lost the real Patamon; losing his cheap, not good enough replacement would probably be too much.

So Takeru was stuck, and no matter how hard the others tried to help—Koushirou tried every search engine in existence and the girls bought every stuffed animal they could find and Jou raided his brothers' biology and mythology textbooks—there was nothing.

Just the last dregs of the Crest of Hope, whispering that they would see each other again.


	4. 02: Bicycle

"Can't you go any faster?" Miyako asked impatiently. She was bouncing on the seat of Jou's bike, yet making him do all the pedaling. Plus she was clutching him around the waist, which was fine, considering the situation. What wasn't fine was the occasional flirtatious giggle and snuggling.

"Stop that before I crash!" Jou yelped. "Why did I agree to carry you four? This is so not safe."

Iori was sitting on the handlebars very calmly. He was used to Miyako's antics. "Because Mimi taught Miyako how to bat her eyelashes," he said matter-of-factly, glancing at his D-3. "Turn left here, please."

"And it's three, technically," Miyako added. "Poromon's flying."

"Upamon, stop bouncing!" Jou snapped, ignoring the girl. Upamon pouted and stuck his tongue out. "I'm so going to crash… your parents are going to kill me…"

"Can't your dad get us a fast past into the emergency room?" Miyako asked brightly.

"What kind of Mickey Mouse organization do you think he works for!"

"Take a right." Iori pocketed his D-3 and held onto Upamon, preparing for impact.

"He ought to know the way to the school." Miyako cuddled up innocently. "He did go there for six years, didn't you, upperclassman?"

"You're making him a nervous wreck." Poromon never expected his to admonishments to be anything but futile, but since he didn't want to visit Miyako, Iori, Jou and Upamon in the hospital for the next six to eight weeks, he figured he might as well try.

"Oh, please don't say 'wreck!'" Jou groaned.

"And since Gomamon isn't here to do it," Upamon added, "I'm going to say that Jou is always a nervous wreck-dagya."

"Watch the sidewalk," Iori said patiently.

The crash could not come fast enough.


	5. 02: Sweet Sixteen

The birthday girl was sitting on her (thankfully not pink—Miyako honestly liked the color, but Mimi would probably live in a cotton candy machine if she could) couch, looking less cheery than usual. Miyako frowned, and went to sit with her.

"What's up, Princess?"

Mimi pouted cutely. "Sweet sixteen and never been kissed," she quoted.

Miyako gave Mimi a half-hug. "Jou wouldn't bite, huh?"

"Neither would Koushirou or Taichi. And Sora and Yamato are cool enough not to freak out over little old me just wanting a birthday kiss… But that kinda takes the fun out of it."

"What about Takeru?"

"Like you kissing Iori."

"Shame."

"Hell yes."

Miyako hugged her again. "I'm sure you'll think of something."

"Yes…" Mimi scooted a little closer into the hug. "I'm sure I will."

"Though I hope I'll have been kissed before my sixteenth," Miyako continued.

"Mm-hmm." Mimi wrapped an arm around the younger girl.

"Wonder if I ought to start on Daisuke or Ken now." Miyako glanced down to see Mimi resting on her shoulder and smiling wickedly.

And that was all she saw before Mimi jumped up and nearly knocked her off of the couch with a sort of combination kiss/tackle that left her shocked and breathless and wondering just what the hell her idol was _on_. And would she share it, please?

Miyako was just about to voice that last question when Mimi grinned at her cutely (expertly obscuring her deviousness). "Problem solved!"

Miyako smirked and gave Mimi a shove. Payback time—those boys didn't know what they were missing.


	6. Adventure: Harmony

"No. No. No…"

Tai glared. "Are you traumatized or do I have to throw something at you?"

Joe sighed. "I have to lean how to say 'no' to her."

They were sitting on two kitchen chairs Mimi had dragged into her room. What really impressed the boys, however, was that Mimi had been dragging the two of them at the same time.

"What do you think she wants with us, seriously?" Tai glanced at Joe. "Don't think she has a dungeon under her apartment building, do you?"

"I bet Daddy would buy her one," Joe answered dryly.

"If she whined long enough."

"There's so much bright pink in this room that I'm going to need a new prescription," Joe muttered after another minute.

"The green trim isn't exactly aesthetic, either… Can I use that word?"

"Only if you can spell it."

"A-E-S… Hey, I think she's coming!"

The door swung open, and Mimi entered, with a large pad under her arm. Her long hair was slicked back into a severe bun, and she'd punched the lenses out of the sunglasses she was wearing.

Tai looked at her warily. Mimi propped the pad up on her bed, flipped it open to the first page, and whacked it with a pointer. "Class will now come to order!" she chirped.

Joe raised his hand. "Mimi, I…"

"Order!" She glowered at him.

So much for saying no. "Yes, ma'am."

Tai snickered, but not for long; Mimi whacked the pad again, this time pointing to the printing on it. It looked like a blow up of sheet music.

"Neither of you can sing a note…" Mimi's smile would have looked much better on Piedmon. "But lucky for you, good singing can be taught…"

Tai and Joe exchanged glances. "Mimi, what possible use…"

"ORDER!"


	7. 02: Candid

Yamato nudged Taichi. "Are they asleep?"

Taichi glanced at the others; they were all sitting in a row on subway. Sora's head was on Koushirou's shoulder and Piyomon's was on his chest. Tentomon was sprawled across Koushirou's lap. Jou was sitting right next to Taichi, hunched over and using Gomamon as a pillow.

All of them, including Agumon and Gabumon in their partners' laps, were sound asleep.

"Get Jou's cell phone," Yamato suggested.

"Why?"

"'Cause I'm bored as hell."

"You have me."

"Not in public."

"Fine. Is it in his pocket or on his belt?"

"I'll forgive you if you feel him up."

"Thanks, oh gracious—wait, it's on his belt." Taichi snagged it and flipped it open.

"Idiot didn't lock it, did he?" Yamato smirked.

"Nope." Taichi frowned. "Didn't know he had a camera phone."

"Well, he's the youngest. Don't your parents spoil Hikari rotten?"

"They sure try." Taichi opened the saved pictures. "Ooh, busted! Sora in her short, short tennis skirt."

"Iori blowing out birthday candles. How parental."

"Gomamon wearing his old glasses and a lab coat—sickeningly cute." Taichi selected the next image and promptly gaped. "Is that… us?"

"I thought he was at least as hammered as Sora was…"

"What the hell was he thinking?"

"Probably something like 'Damn, that's great blackmail.'"

"Yeah, proba…" Taichi trailed off, once he realized that Yamato wasn't the one who had spoken.

Jou was looking at them over the top rim of his glasses. And smirking. "Phone, please."


	8. 02: Trivial Pursuit

Times like these, Iori was glad to be Jou and Koushirou's heir. He couldn't imagine Sora and Mimi or Taichi and Yamato or even Takeru and Hikari doing the kind of thing they were doing now.

Namely, poring over Jou's impressive encyclopedia set and working Google for all it was worth, via Koushirou's equally impressive laptop.

Said laptop was providing the only noise in the room; the 'clickety-click' of Koushirou's typing. Jou had his 'S' volume opened to 'submarine' and was reading the entry silently. Occasionally, he would pause to push his glasses back up his nose or brush his hair out of his eyes, but that was it. Iori and Upamon were on Jou's floor, Iori resting on his stomach with the 'A' volume open in front of them. It was open in two places: 'armadillo' and 'ankylosaurus.'

The child sighed. "I'm lost."

Koushirou and Jou exchanged a glance. Koushirou smiled sympathetically. "It is pretty confusing."

"When is the Digital World ever not confusing?" Jou asked rhetorically.

"I don't see what the big deal is-dagya!" Upamon bounced impatiently.

"Maybe I shouldn't worry about it," Iori admitted. "I should just be grateful that I have Upamon at all."

"That's the spirit," Jou said encouragingly. "I mean, I've got a little floating thing that turns into a seal, then into a walrus, and then a turtle-dog thing."

"Well, all of those are sort of related… except the turtle," Koushirou admitted. "At least they're all aquatic. I did find an interesting page on the Shakoukidoguu, though."

Iori hugged Upamon. "I just don't understand how a little drop turns into an amphibian, then into an armadillo, then a submarine, a bug or a dinosaur, then into an ancient artifact."

Upamon hugged back. "That's okay. I don't understand half the stuff you do, either-dagya!"


	9. 02: Selfless People

_Selfless people are really the most selfish people of all. _

Iori wrote it very quickly, and then scribbled it out. He knew it wasn't true. His father wasn't selfish. Oikawa wasn't selfish. They just found something they absolutely had to do, and only one way to do it.

Iori had to admire it. It was the one thing he could never, ever bring himself to do. Iori was willing to do nearly anything for Armadimon, for his family, for the other Chosen Children, but the fact remained. It was the reason Ken was the cop, not him.

He wasn't willing to die. He still had the justice instinct, still wanted to put the bad guys away, but he did it from behind the desk. He played the technicalities, manipulated the law books, and capitalized on that judge who refused to wear his reading glasses.

He was clever and it wasn't impossibly hard. But it killed him that dishonesty was the only way to beat the dishonest. It killed him, the way Armadimon and the others would look at him, eyes worried and foreheads creased. He knew Koushirou and Jou both credited half their gray hair to him. Armadimon was doing his best to lighten the load; trying more heart-wrenching cases himself.

Iori sighed and dropped his pen. Police officers were so straightforward: just catch the bastard. If he gets off, blame the suit.

Iori knew he would have been happier as a policeman. He would have been able to live with himself much easier that way. His friends would stop worrying about his sanity, and only have the familiar worries about whether or not he was going to die. But so help him; Iori just couldn't bring himself to risk history repeating itself.

He knew it was selfish of him.


	10. 02: Turn the Page

"Turn the page." Gomamon wanted to know what happened next in the book he and Jou had been sharing quietly.

Jou craned his neck to look at the Digimon sitting on his shoulders. "I'm still reading it." 

"Read faster," Gomamon answered petulantly.

"Get your own book."

Gomamon smiled lazily. "Comfy where I am, thanks."

"Why do I put up with you, anyway?" Jou asked. It was a rhetorical question, Gomamon knew, but his fussy partner had been abusing it lately.

"Because you love me." Jou rolled his eyes.

Gomamon tried a different approach, "You know, you're always complaining about how you've read all your books a million times. If you do it my way, when you reread them, you'll find a line or a detail that you missed, and it will be like a brand-new story."

"But if you do it my way," Jou began, twisting around to knock Gomamon into his lap and stroke the fur on his head, "you won't get to the climax and think 'Wait, when the heck did that happen?' and have to backtrack sixteen chapters, trying to figure out what's going on."

Gomamon cuddled against Jou's chest and pouted up at him cutely. Jou met Gomamon's eyes, trying to look annoyed, but only succeeding with exasperated affection. They held the stalemate for another two minutes, before finally speaking in practically the same breath.

"I still like my way better."

Gomamon sighed. "Compromise?"

"Fine. Do the odd pages your way, the even ones mine?"

"Sounds good. Turn the page."


	11. 02: Expert Witness

"I hate lawyers," Jou groaned.

"I think we hate you, too," Iori observed, reading the subpoena for Jou's expert testimony.

"Why can't they just tell the jury themselves that Skullgreymon are bloodthirsty, vile, dangerous creatures? It's common knowledge, it's in Takeru's stupid book, and it's on that stupid TV show." 

"Both of which are technically classified as fiction," Iori said patiently. "Besides. Takeru is a novelist. You're a prestigious, intelligent son of a very gifted medical family, and the only person on the planet who is actively, aggressively studying Digimon."

"What about my brother?"

"Studying the Digital World itself, not the monsters."

Jou sighed. "I hate lawyers. Why are Takeru's books considered fiction? I find that rather insulting."

"The same reason Laura Ingalls Wilder's are, I suppose." Iori smiled, mostly for Jou's benefit. "Come on, you should be flattered."

"It's not like they're giving me a choice. I thought doctors had privileges."

Iori set down the paperwork. "Doctor-patient communication is privileged," he explained. "If that Skullgreymon was your patient, you couldn't say anything about his medical history that he didn't want you to. Anyway, you're not testifying as a doctor. You're testifying as an expert on Digimon."

"Is that allowed?" Jou frowned. "I'm not qualified as a Digimon expert. Hell. I'm not even qualified as a Digimon doctor, if you want to get technical. They don't have degrees for that yet." 

"Well, I could argue that," Iori said thoughtfully. "But if that goes on the record, someone could argue that you shouldn't practice in the Digital World at all, and then where would you be?" 

Jou smacked himself in the forehead. "I hate—mmm!" Iori had reached over and covered Jou's mouth.

"So you've said." He kissed Jou's forehead.

"I still hate lawyers," Jou muttered, blushing slightly.


	12. 02: The Perfect Ending

_With that, Yolei returned Kari's earlier favor and slapped her across the face. She vaguely perceived Ken's jaw dropping, Gatomon's ears flattening and then-_

_-Dragomon rose from the depths of the Dark Ocean, laughed evilly and squished Ken's head. Repeatedly. Because despite the fact that the Dark Spore (see currently unwritten chapter 36) wasn't working anymore, it still held too damn much to be legal_.

_From there, he whipped out a giant can of Raid and took care of Stingmon like whoa. Yolei was, understandably, very pissed off, so Dragomon gave the bespectacled girl the slap of a lifetime and she blasted off again. Aquilamon went after her, and they both fell in the Dark Ocean they couldn't see and drowned in water they weren't aware of. _

_Meanwhile, Kari was still going insane and Gatomon was still trying to preserve that last remnant of sanity within her. She failed. Miserably. Because Gatomon, you see, is mildly insane herself, due to years of excruciating loneliness and torture-induced amnesia. Kari following in her crazy-cat footsteps merely unhinged her further and she laughed crazily, Dark Digivolved to LadyDevimon, and became Dragomon's evil queen. _

_Kari was promptly locked up in giant pink light bulb and her random glowing became a favorite entertainment at Dragomon and LadyDevimon's 'evil-only' parties._

TK smirked. "The. Freakin'. END," he said triumphantly.

0.0.0.

Inspired by a conversation with my brother. Only he suggested I kill Joe (it's really, really hard to get into his head), not Ken, Stingmon, Yolei and Aquilamon.

Yes, I'm randomly switching off on dub and sub. A good rule of thumb, though, is that anything that isn't serious will use the dub names. Easier to type, bluntly.


	13. Adventure: Tennis Skirt

_Note to self: do not inform Mimi of new hobbies. _

Sora was now pretty sure she knew how it felt to be a Barbie doll. Cute little girls drag you around, putting you in revealing clothes. Stacks of revealing clothes. Again, and again, and again… Her watch dutifully informed her that this had been going on for high on two hours.

Sora liked spending time with Mimi. While she loved Hikari, Mimi had the distinct advantage of being closer to Sora's age. This was their day together, they planned to play a game of tennis for Sora, then go shopping for Mimi.

At some point, Mimi changed her mind. Something about needing tennis outfits to play tennis. Which was funny. Sora was the one trying on all the clothes.

At least this was the last outfit in the pile. Sora took a deep breath, steeled her resolve, and stepped out of the changing room.

She wished she had earplugs the moment she did; Mimi squealed like a piglet.

"How CUTE!" Mimi smoothed the skirt compulsively. "Wear short skirts more often. You have great legs."

"I wear skirts every day to school," Sora protested. "And to tennis practice."

"Well, true… I'd be written up for wearing your uniform to school!" Mimi giggled. "But why to tennis?"

"Because I do have great legs." Sora giggled a little herself. "First time the boys saw me in my uniform, I thought they were going to die. They were all blushing..."

"Poor guys… well, next batch!" Mimi said cheerily. Seemingly from nowhere, she pulled out more clothes.

Sora didn't even bother fighting this time; she trudged back into the changing room and began sifting through the outfits Mimi picked out. There was a tank top she liked, ridiculously short shorts, a bikini…

"Mimi!"


	14. Adventure: Eyes

_Hikari taught me a trick. _

I let out a scream as the Bloody Stream whipped across my back, crashed against the Holy Ring around my neck… I was thrown across the room by the force and slammed into the wall. Not too hard. I wasn't knocked out—that was what I wanted.

She said that my nightmares are just like any other thought: I have to change them, change my mind and think something new.

"Your eyes…"

"AIR SHOT!"

"Well, what do you think of our eyes, huh? They're just like hers!" Piyomon called angrily. "Magical FIRE!"

"Mine are green," Gomamon remarked. "Except for that, though, they're pretty much the same."

I have to replace everything old with everything new. Forget Vamdemon, even Wizarmon—I have Agumon and Patamon and Piyomon, and even Gomamon now.

"Mine are red—Gomamon, aren't you going to attack?"

Gomamon suddenly looked dejected. "Since when has my attack done anything?"

"Ah." Gabumon nodded. "Petit Fire!"

"Baby Flame!" Agumon ran up to me, pulled me up to my paws, before turning back to the others. "Go, Palmon!"

"Poison Ivy!" She caught Vamdemon cold. "I have purple eyes," she offered. "Or green. I guess."

"I have green, soulless, dead, compound eyes. Petit Thunder!"

There's nothing left from back then, just my memories.

"One more shot… ready, Tailmon?" Agumon grinned.

And suddenly I am.

"Neko PUNCH!"


	15. 02: The Search

"Where did I put it?" Jou wondered out loud, sitting up and scooting back from his closet. "I need to read the stupid thing before…"

Wait for it, Gomamon thought lazily. He snuggled into the pillow on top of Jou's desk (stolen from Jou's bed, in fact, but the teenager hadn't realized it yet) as Jou spied a box he hadn't ripped apart yet.

"You'd think I'd be more careful." The box was shoved aside for different one. "You'd think I'd keep track of these things."

Gomamon yawned. Jou was boring when he talked to himself.

"My memory is not this bad!"

When opportunity knocks! "That's what you think," the Digimon said loftily.

Jou shot him an annoyed look, before diving back into his closet. Much more meticulously arranged than any other human closet Gomamon had observed, it was still something of a mess. But having a frustrated teenager hell-bent on finding an elusive textbook throw everything around while muttering things unfit to repeat could do that.

"You forget lots of things," Gomamon continued, pleased as Jou spun around to look at him.

"Either say something useful!" Jou snapped. He didn't even bother finishing the sentence.

"Like todaaaay," Gomamon drawled, also not bothering to finish his sentence. Didn't have to. Except for a glitch here and there, Jou did have a fairly good memory, usually only needing a prod to remember all kinds of random things. Which Gomamon was counting on, as Jou turned around again, this time looking guilty.

"We were supposed to… oh, shoot."

"We still have time," Gomamon reassured him, jumping from the desk and landing neatly on Jou's head, as Jou moved to leave.

Gomamon just hoped he wouldn't look back, because a corner of the book poked out from under the pillow on the desk.


	16. Adventure: Come True

The front door swings open and the little girl comes running out first, the older girls not far behind. She runs towards the one Natsuko thinks of as the 'casual couple.' The casual wife picks up her little girl and hugs her, and the casual husband hugs them both.

The big girl runs for the solitary woman and sinks into her arms like a stone in the pond. They're managing not to cry, but only by sheer force of will. The middle girl is already crying loud and hard and calls her parents before they envelope her into a hug. Whom Natsuko mentally dubbed the 'newlywed couple;' the newlywed wife has been crying on and off ever since the children left and she's on again.

The sun rises all over again as Takeru races out and runs straight for Natsuko and Hiroaki. She lets Hiroaki hug him first, because he needs the practice and she seems her ex-husband smile for once. .

The oldest boy comes out backwards. He nearly falls out, but the younger boy stops him. Natsuko guesses that whatever they were looking at is resolved, as the younger boy goes to embrace the third couple.

The oldest boy goes to the young man and for a second, Natsuko thinks they're going to hug, too, but they stop just short. Just a hand on the shoulder and they smile.

Yamato comes out, looking straight at Natsuko, and he looks… regretful? The goggles boy with him grins widely and shoves Yamato hard at Natsuko before joining his family.

Yamato stumbles towards her, and Natsuko moves, stops just short. She feels tears in her eyes and Yamato swallows, before she's got him in her arms. Her cheeks and shoulder are damp, but it's okay. Her wish came true.


	17. Savers: Pushing the Ruse

I don't enjoy the shock on Masaru's face. There certainly isn't a part of me wanting to beat the hell out of him because he upstages me. And if there was, it would certainly not be because everyone else prefers his rashness to my collected reasoning, or because his rashness gets better results than my collected reasoning.

Or because his mother is alive, because his sister is beautiful and healthy and strong. Because even if his father is lost forever, he knows perfectly well that he was always the center of his father's universe. Always was, and always will be.

None of that changes the fact that we're friends; we're _all_ friends. A team.

I'm not in denial. I'm not. My chest is pulled tight, only practiced indifference, practiced refusal to fail, is keeping the frown on my face. I don't know what pulls harder: my want to pull him to his feet and smack myself in the face, or my want to leave him lying there, face down in the dirt. I don't want to think Kurata is going to help Relena. I don't want anything to happen to Relena, for Relena to die as my father and I watch, he indifferent and I helpless, but I'm so desperate and tired of pathology and doctorates and the tick, tick, tick of the clock… the rustle of every calendar I throw away, counting down until she can't leave her bed, until I'm back in the hospital, back at the bedside of someone I love more than anything else, someone who will never wake up.

So breaking Masaru's face does not sound like a great stress reliever. And Chika screaming at us to stop certainly doesn't slice my heart in two.

Nor does his corrupted Digioul.


	18. Savers: Ferris Wheel

"Is he still there?" Chika asked.

Obligingly, Relena looked out the little car's window. Sure enough, they were low enough to the ground, and sure enough, she could see Touma standing right where they left him. Right _exactly_ where they left him, scanning the Ferris Wheel for them, and content to _stay_ there and eat the cotton candy Chika insisted he buy.

Relena didn't say this out loud. "At least Yoshino-san and Ikuto-san have left," she offered.

Chika simply shook her head, and leaned out of the window. Almost dangerously far, she smiled to herself when Relena gripped her hand tightly. Bonus!

"TOUMA-KUUUUN!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs, waving frantically.

Touma waved back calmly.

"Worry wart," Chika declared. She sat back down, still holding Relena's hand. Relena smiled apologetically. "Wanna go around again?"

"Chika-san!" Relena protested, starting to giggle. "This'll be the fifth time! I don't think Oniisama's going to leave us alone… He _does_ worry about me."

"Even though you're better, even though he _made_ you better, yeah, yeah, I know." Chika squeezed Relena's hand… and smiled wickedly. "Wanna do something that will _really _worry him?" she asked eagerly.

"_Chika-san_!" Relena giggled helplessly. "Maybe somewhere a little more comfortable…?"


	19. Savers: Rollercoaster

"So," Yoshino began, smiling almost wickedly, "how does it feel to revolutionize the world of medicine?"

"I didn't revolutionize anything," Touma protested, as Ikuto snickered into his pastry. "Curing cancer or AIDS—that would be revolutionary. Relena's disease, in comparison-"

Yoshino cut him off. "Then I suppose you wouldn't mind taking off the hat and sunglasses, hmm?" She leaned over the table, reaching purposefully for him—and the packets of artificial sweetener, but he didn't have to know that.

Touma glanced nervously about the café's patio. "I'll pass," he muttered grimly, but he smiled a bit when he saw Yoshino stirring sugar substitutes into her coffee. "Weren't you the one who _recommended_ the hat and sunglasses, anyway?"

"Mm, but not those." She gestured with her spoon. "They're ugly."

"Leave him alone," Ikuto exclaimed, laughing. "They're probably the cheapest ones he could find."

Pausing to let his friends enjoy the jokes at his expense, Touma looked around. Chika and Relena were seated a few feet away, sharing a box of chocolates and giggling over some magazine. Chika was probably reading it aloud; Relena still _spoke_ perfect Japanese, but she was rusty when it came to reading and writing.

After a while, Chika turned the page. There was a pause as she whispered to an attentive Relena, and then the two erupted into violent giggles. Relena tilted her head back, and literally shook with repressed laughter. Her long blonde hair seemed to catch every sunbeam; it fanned out behind her, providing a shining backdrop reminiscent of a peacock's tail.

The sight warming him immensely, Touma turned back to his friends. Ikuto had just finished a story about his sister's first day of school, and Yoshino had begun one about Shiratori-san's boyfriend visiting them at work. Eventually, it faded into speculation about what their partners were up to, and how often they had to bail Masaru and Agumon out of trouble; even Ikuto conceded it had to have happened at least once.

He was laughing at something and promising himself to spend more time in his mother's country when Chika tapped him on the shoulder.

Resolutely, she informed him, "Relena-chan and I think we should go to Disneyland."

Touma raised his eyebrows. "Really? All of us?"

"Can't we?" Relena asked anxiously. "Oniisama, Chika-san says they have a new rollercoaster," here her eyes brightened, and her voice gained such power that Touma would have _bought_ Disneyland for her, if it gave his beloved sister such heart, "and I've never been on a _rollercoaster_ before, you know!"

"Me neither," Ikuto admitted.

Yoshino gave him a shove, laughing at him. "It's safer than flying around on Falcomon, the way you used to!"

"Well?" Chika demanded. "Touma-kun, can we take Relena-chan to Disneyland?"

He fixed his sister with a smile, and she gleefully hugged him, forgetting they were in the middle of a Tokyo café. "Oh, Oniisama, we'll have such fun!"

"And by Disneyland," Chika began, smiling slyly, "I meant the one in California, you know."


	20. Savers: And It Feels So Good

Masaru was on the wrong end of a punch.

In his defense (and he dearly wished his defense had been better), his attacker had been the last person he ever expected to _ever _be able to throw a punch of _any_ description, and her fiery orange Digisoul had winked into existence before she ever fully laid eyes on him.

So her reinforced fist was slammed swiftly into his gut, the wind was knocked out of him, and his rear end actually hit the pavement. Hard. He skidded a little bit, as well, and was almost positive the seat of his worn pants was actually torn.

"_Crap_," he gasped out. He inhaled sharply, and still clutching his stomach, demanded, "Who the _hell_ taught you how to hit like that?"

"Daddy," was Chika's simple response. Her fists were still clenched, Agumon was still staring in abject shock, Piyomon looked decidedly amused, and Masaru was really just trying to breathe again.

Agumon ran over to him. "That was incredible!" he called over his shoulder. "That was incredible, Aneki!"

Masaru gasped again, actually kind of angry now, and mustered the strength to push himself to his knees, and then used Agumon to climb unsteadily into a standing position. He paused a moment to smack his beloved follower upside the head for his unswerving loyalty, and favored his beloved sister with the worst glare he could manage.

"You deserved that." There we actually tears in her eyes at this point, and she sniffled in frustration "And this is the part where you come over, and dry my tears, and tell me it's okay, you jerk. Just in case you were wondering."

"Yeah, yeah. I dare you to try that again," Masaru threatened half-heartedly, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Mm. I love you, too."


	21. Tamers:The Happiest Day of Rumiko's Life

"I can't believe it!" Rumiko cooed. "My daughter--" (she barely stopped herself from saying 'baby') "is having her first slumber party!"

"No, Mom." Ruki was almost begging. "It's not a slumber party. It's not even a sleepover, okay? Juri is _spending the night_. Nothing else."

"_Nothing_ else, hmm?" Ruki did not like that look; it was a 'mom look' and it meant she was losing… something. She wasn't sure what, but she was definitely losing, and that always sucked. "So you're just going to throw your guest into a sleeping bag and ignore her until morning?"

"Manners, Ruki," Seiko murmured. Her cup of tea hid her smile, and unless Ruki missed her guess, the cup her grandmother was passing to Renamon was to serve a similar purpose.

"All right, fine, we'll do something fun," Ruki grumpily conceded. "But nothing girly, okay?"

"How girly is 'girly?'" Rumiko asked eagerly. "Painting each other's nails isn't too bad, right? Maybe hair curling…?"

"Mom, we're probably just going to play Digimon all night," Ruki sighed.

"All right, all right." Rumiko sighed, too—before a bright idea brightened her back up.

"Can I play, too?"


End file.
